Still Life

Top-notch update of 70s twangy singer-songwriter rock from a member of The Babies (and former member of Woods). It’s polished but also just shambolic enough to feel relaxed and welcoming. And Morby writes really catchy, clever, openhearted songs—like Cass McCombs at his least cagey. A lovely addition to the canon of easygoing California sunshine albums. Every song’s a winner, but my favorites are 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. FCC WARNING: 2.

1. *(4:22)—Slow, ambling. Starts soft, turns into full-ahead jangly road rock.
2. *(2:47)—FCC (f***). Fast, kick-ass, twangy, untethered romp. Too bad this is only safe-harbor friendly.
3. *(3:21)—Medium-fast, easygoing, driving.
4. *(3:31)—Medium-slow, breezy, heart-on-sleeve love song.
5. (5:20)—Slow, cool, with kind of dubby percussion.
6. (4:26)—Slow, shimmering, eerie melancholy.
7. *(5:25)—Warm, majestic, beautiful plod, with horns and piano. Last 35 seconds are a sketch of an unrelated song.
8. (3:05)—Bluesy guitar fingerpicking. Lots of vocal tracks.
9. (7:56)—Slow barroom waltz. Mid-section is in 4/4 time with spoken word.
10. (2:51)—Mid-tempo, soft, pretty, romantic.